Turkey Healthy Cities Association conducted by Bursa Light Pollution Research Project, to clarify the unused space, for reasons such as making extra lighting in areas used 400 million for Turkey, Bursa revealed that approximately 21 million worth of energy is wasted.
While factors such as developing technology, population growth and consumption increase the share of outdoor lighting in electricity consumption day by day, light pollution has also come to the fore as an important environmental problem in recent years. Chairman of the Bursa Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktas made by Turkey Healthy Cities Association in Bursa as well as in his private economy research and have exposed the negative impact of pollution on human health. Turkey Healthy Cities Association, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality of Bursa Bursa Amateur Astronomy Association and the general cooperation in isikkirliligi.org light pollution measurements were made. Light pollution map was created as a result of light pollution measurements made at 90 different points where 1021 percent of the city population lives. In the Light Pollution Research Project Final Report; With the US Air Force Defense Meteorology Satellite Program, which was updated in 2016, scientific data obtained using night images of the earth from space were also included. According to this data, 97,8 percent of Turkey live under the light pollution of the population and 49,9 percent of the population does not see any of the Milky Way.
Huge economic loss
Prof. dr. In the project prepared under the consultancy of Zeki Aslan, the negative effects of light pollution on the economy were also revealed. In the final report of the project, according to a study by the International Dark Sky Association, it was stated that up to 30 percent of the light was wasted in outdoor lighting. According to current figures, it was emphasized that the cost of these wrong practices causes energy loss of 3,5 billion dollars in the USA and 53 million pounds in the UK. In Turkey, yet the report noted conduct a study on such a large scale, some cities are using the study satellite images in 1997 accounts were made, Istanbul 13,6 million kWh, from Ankara to 6,8 million kilowatt hours and is from Bursa 1,8, It was recorded that 20 million kilowatt hours of electrical energy was calculated to be sent to space. the intervening 2012-year period while expressing that reach much larger numbers of these values in Eskisehir city center in 2017 and in 400 in Bursa province, according to the results of the studies Nilufer district, all of Turkey's energy today amount to about 759,3 million TL as it is estimated that wasted . In the latest research, it was calculated that the total amount of light lost due to improper illumination in Bursa is 21,13 million lumens per year, and its economic equivalent is XNUMX million TL.
Too much light makes you fat
In the Bursa Light Pollution Research Project Final Report, attention was also drawn to the effects of light pollution on human health. The report included the following comments on the health effects of light: “Studies show that excessive exposure to light at night increases the risk of being overweight (obesity), depression, sleep disorder, diabetes, breast cancer and other diseases. The 24-hour day / night cycle affects the biological clock that determines the physiological processes of living things and controls biochemical mechanisms. Like all living things, humans have adapted to this cycle in the evolutionary process. The melatonin hormone secreted in the dark at night preserves the body's biological clock and adjusts its rhythm, increasing its protective resistance against cancer. The known effects of the hormone melatonin, which is secreted only at night and in the dark, can be listed as follows; It regenerates cells, retards aging and has antioxidant properties, triggers sleep, strengthens the immune system, lowers cholesterol, and helps the thyroid, pancreas, male and female reproductive systems and adrenal glands to function properly. The prolongation of light duration or sudden exposure to light suppresses melatonin release and stops its production. Similarly, clinical studies conducted on women working night shifts show an increased risk of breast cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists “shift studies that cause biological clock deterioration” as possible carcinogens. The reason why people with leukemia and other cancers are required to be hospitalized / sleep in the dark environment, especially during treatment processes, is based on these facts. "
The study also drew attention to the fact that light pollution is a global problem with a local solution.
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